WYC- Event by Event Girls Preview

by Jim Spier

 

100m
The top 4 entrants are Angela Tenorio (Ecuador, 11.30), Irene Ekelund (Sweden, 11.35), Arianna Washington (Poly, Long Beach, CA, 11.39) and Ky Westbrook (Chandler, AZ, 11.45).  I would wager that both Washington and Westbrook will medal.   Washington is the California state champion.  Westbrook is the Arizona state champion and New Balance Nationals Outdoor (NBNO) champ.  The US has won this event 4 times and have accumulated 8 medals: 4 gold,  3 silver and 1 bronze.

200m
It’s Ekelund (23.15), Washington (23.18), Tenorio (23.26) and Westbrook (23.27) leading the field, along with Gina Luckenkemper (Germany) at 23.35.  The U.S. should get at least a medal here.  Washington and Westbrook at state champs in this event as well, with Washington the runner up at the 2013 New Balance Nationals Indoor (NBNI).  Hannah Cunliffe  is the Great Southwest runner up at 23.10w.  The US has won this twice, the last in 2001 by Angel Perkins.  Of the 7 medals won, 2 have been gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.  They were shut out in 2011.

400m
Olivia Baker (Columbia, Maplewood, NJ) leads the field with 52.71, her winning time at the World Youth Trials (WYT).  Yanique Mc Neil (Jamaica) has run 53.17 and Raevyn Rogers (Kinkaid, Houston, TX) is at 53.34.  There should be at least one medal for the U.S. here.  Baker won four golds in the 2013 NBNO:  the 400 meters, and as part of the victorious 4x800m, 4x400m and 1600m Medley, the last two of which are US high school leaders.  Rogers is the 2012 NBNO 800m champion.  The US has 4 wins among the total of 6 medals won.  The other 2 are bronze.  No medals were won in 2011.  The US had great success in 2009 with Ebony Eutsey and Michelle Brown g.

800m
The leader here is Anita Henriksdottir of Iceland at 2:00.49.  My guess is that she will show up at some U.S. university in a year or two.  Georgia Wassall of Australia is next best at 2:03.37, followed by Raevyn Rogers (Kinkaid, Houston, TX) at 2:05.33.  The best American, Mary Cain (Bronxville, NY) at 1:59.51, has bypassed the meet since she qualified for the IAAF World Championships in the 1500m to be held in Moscow in August.  Rogers is the next best U.S. high schooler in this event.  It is unclear whether she will run this event or the 400m.  Ersula Farrow (South, Grosse Pointe, MI) at 2:06.92 is 12th ranked and will have to be at the top of her game to make the final.  She was 9th at the 2013 NBNI and part of the US leading 4xmile relay at that meet.  She is the #3 800m runner on her own team!  Her teammates,  Hannah and Haley Meier, have run slightly faster. The US has only won one medal in this event, the gold by Ajee Wilson in 2011.  Ajee, though still junior age, has qualified for the IAAF World Championship to be held in Moscow in August.

1500m
Even without Mary Cain (4:04.62, World Youth leader), the U.S. has a shot at a medal.  The leader is Tigist Gashaw of Ethiopia with 4:10.37.  Her teammate, Dawit Seyaum is at 4:14.95.  Not far behind is Alexa Efraimson (Camas, WA) at 4:16.00.  Efraimson was the 2013 NBNO 800m runner up behind Sabrina Southerland.  Anna Maxwell (San Lorenzo Valley, Felton, CA), the California state champ at 1600m, is 9th ranked at 4:25.93 and has the possibility to make the final.  Anna was 6th at the NBNO mile.  Jorday Hasay, just finishing her senior year at the U. of Oregon, is the only US medal winner in the history of this event, having won the silver in 2007.

3000m
Kenyans lead this event with Lilian Kasait Rengruk at 9:11.7 and Mercy Chebwogen at 9:12.0.  Then it’s Yuri Nozoe (9:15.39) and Masaki Hayashida (9:15.79), both of Japan.  There are no Americans who have qualified.  The US has never won a medal in this event.

2000m Steeplechase
Kenyans lead this as well, with Rosefline Chepngetich (6:12.0) well ahead of her teammate Daisy Jepkemei (6:24.52) and the rest of the field.  Weynshet Ansa (Ethiopia) is third seed at 6:35.6.  No Americans qualified here.  Like the 3000m, the US has never won a medal.

100m Hurdles (30”)
Yanique Thompson (Jamaica) is the leader at 13.23, followed by Stephanie Amador of Cuba (13.39).  Rushelle Burton of Jamaica has run 13.48, with Dior Hall (Washington, Denver, CO) fifth-ranked at 13.53.  Dior was runner up to Kendell Williams at the 2013 NBNO.  Mikiah Brisco (Baton Rouge, LA), the Golden West 100m and Louisiana 100m hurdles state champion, comes in = 11th ranked at 13.76.  The US has 8 medals to its credit, including 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze.  Trinity Wilson was the winner here in 2011.

400m Hurdles
The leading entrant is Helene Swanepoel of South Africa, with a 58.48 best.  Next is Canadian Lexi Aitken at 58.89, followed by Daeshon Gordon of Jamaica (and Boyd Anderson HS, Lauderdale Lakes, FL) at 58.92.  Gordon is the Florida 4A 300m hurdle champion at 42.16.  Samantha Gonzalez (Creekview, Carrollton, TX), at 59.73 is seeded 9th.  She was 5th in the Texas 4A 300m hurdles (43.60), and obviously peaked at the right time to qualify for the U.S. team.  Of the 5 medals won by the US, 3 have been gold.  The other two are bronze.  Nnenya Haley won the event in 2011.

High Jump
Eleanor Patterson (Australia) heads the field with a best of 6-1.25.  Just behind are Nawal Meniker (France, 6-0.5) and Elina Kakko (Finland, 6-0).  They are the only “6-footers” in the field.  Alexa Harmon Thomas (Lawrence Free State, Lawrence, KS), doing double duty in this event as well as the heptathlon, comes in at 5-10.5 and is =13th ranked.  Alexa attained that height at the 2013 NBNI where she was second to Kendell Williams.  No US athlete has ever medaled.

Pole Vault
Robeilys Peinado of Venezuela, just 15 years old, heads the pole vault field with a best of 14-3.25.  Nina Kennedy (Australia) is at 14-1.75, and Alena Lutkovskaya (Russia) had jumped 14-1.25.  Desiree Freier (Northwest, Justin, TX) is entered at 13-9, her winning jump at the Texas 5A state meet, putting her as the 9th seed.  She was third at the 2013 NBNI.  Zoe Mc Kinley (Grapevine, TX), 4th to Freier at the Texas 5A state meet, comes in 13-2.5, 10th ranked.  No US athlete has ever medaled.

Long Jump
Florentin Marincu (Romania) is the best long jumper entered at 21-5.5.  Next is Rong Wang of China at 21-1.25.  The 2013 NBNO long jump champion, Courtney Corrin (Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood, CA) is third best at 21-0.  She is the California state champion and U.S. high school Freshman class record holder.  Keturah Orji (Mount Olive, Flanders, NJ), second to Corrin at the 2013 NBNO, is 5th seed at 20-7.25.  Also listed is Chyna Ries (Washington, Denver, CO) at 20-4.5.  Ries is ranked 8th.  Ries was 6th at the 2013 NBNI and appears to be in good form after suffering some injuries at the end of last year.  Jennifer Clayton is the lone US medalist here, taking the bronze in 2009.

Triple Jump
Rong Wang leads this field, with a best of 46-2.25.  Nubia Soares (Brazil) has jumped 44-8.75, and American Keturah Orji comes in third best at 43-9.25.  Keturah is the 2013 NBNO champion and is part of the National Scholastic Athletics Foundation (NSAF) Triple Jump Project.  This is one of the rare chances where a U.S. athlete has a chance at a medal.  Like the long jump, the US has one medal, a bronze won by Michelle Sanford in 2001.

Shot Put (3kg)
Topping the field is Emel Dereli (Turkey) at 65-7.  Next is Alena Bugakova of Russia at 62-10.5, followed by Ashlie Blake (Liberty, Henderson, NV) at 58-11.5.  The youth use a slightly lighter shot than US high schoolers.  Ashlie is the 2013 NBNO runnerup at 51-8.5 and part of an elite group of sent to the Chicagoland Throwers Series in June by the NSAF.  Lena Giger (Highland, IL), third at the 2013 NBNO, comes in at 56-5.75 and is ranked 7th overall.  The U.S. could put two into the finals.  They have never won a medal in the shot put.

Discus
The Chinese are dominant here, led by Yuchan Xie at 177-8 and Xingyun Liang at 168-11.  Then it’s Claudine Vita (Germany) at 163-11.  Lloydricia Cameron (Northwestern, Miami, FL), the 2013 NBNO runner up, leads the US squad with a best of 159-5, putting her 7th overall.  Ashlie Blake’s 157-00 ranks her 10th, and it appears that the U.S. could have two in the finals here as well.  This is the US’s best field event, historically, with 4 medals – 1 silver (Alex Collatz in 2009) and 3 bronze.

Hammer (3kg)
The Hungarians have the leading three entrants.  They will have to pick two.  Those three are Reka Gyuratz at 249-6, Helga Volgyi at 244-0 and Zr-fia Bacskay at 235-5.  Next is Ecern Akcatara of Turkey with 225-6.  Nyla Woods (Grady, Atlanta, GA) is 24th seeded out of 56 entrants at 199-3.  Nyla was 7th at the NBNO.  The U.S. has never medaled in this event.

Javelin (500g)
Ilaria Casarotto of Italy leads the field with a best of 186-11.  The other two favorites are Anete Kocina of Latvia (182-10) and Jo-Ana Van Dyk of South Africa (180-11).  There are no Americans.  However, when analyzing the girls who finished 1-2 at the US Trials, it appears that those two should have been on the team.  Emma Fitzgerald (Thayer Academy, MA) won the trials of with a throw of 167-10.  That would have put her 14th ranked among the entrants.  Karen Bulger (Northwest Christian, Lacey, WA) had even a better argument to be on the team.  Karen was selected to the Chicagoland Throwers Series by the NSAF and will be part of the NSAF’s Kultan Keihas project (Javelin Gold) for 2013-2014.  She finished second at the trials to Fitzgerald with a throw of 166-5.  That would have put her 15th ranked.  But Karen has thrown 161-5 with the 600g javelin and is the third best high school javelin athlete in the U.S.  That converts to 181-5 with the 500g javelin.  She would really be among the leaders and may have been in the running for a medal in an event where the U.S. has never medaled.

Heptathlon
Morgan Lake (Great Britain) has a score of 5725 with the top 3 well over 5600 points.  Louisa Grauvogel of Germany has scored 5692 and her teammate, Celina Leffler is only 12 points back.  Alexa Harmon-Thomas (Lawrence Free State, Lawrence, KS), also in the high jump and second to Kendell Williams in the 2013 NBNI pentathlon, comes in with a score of 5184, ranked 19th of the 43 entrants.  The US has never medaled in the heptathlon.

Our Partners